The patient who was found to be infected in Region Stockholm in mid-August is doing well and has not required hospital care. This was stated by Social Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD) during a press briefing on Friday.
The patient had been infected in an area in Africa where a large outbreak is ongoing. And it is primarily in parts of Africa that mpox clade 1 is now spreading.
But we are not resting on our laurels and we are closely following the development. We also have vaccines in readiness, says Olivia Wigzell.
Sweden has sufficient vaccine stockpiles, according to Jakob Forssmed, and more can be purchased if the situation changes. He does not want to say how many doses of mpox vaccine are available in the country.
For security reasons, we do not disclose exact numbers of doses. We must protect ourselves against vulnerabilities, says Forssmed.
According to state epidemiologist Magnus Gisslén, who also participated in the press briefing, it is primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring regions that mpox clade 1 is now spreading.
It is also people who plan to travel there and who will have long-term and close contact with the population who are recommended to get vaccinated.
According to figures compiled by the Public Health Agency, there were around 4,000 trips in total between Sweden and the affected countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya during May and June.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is related to smallpox and is caused by two virus variants: clade 2, which was behind the outbreak in 2022 with around 300 cases in Sweden, and clade 1, which is now spreading.
Clade 1 has been known for decades, but now it's about a new – and more serious – subvariant, according to Niklas Arnberg, professor of virology at Umeå University.
Mpox causes painful blisters and sores on the skin and flu-like symptoms. The disease is often mild and heals on its own. But if things go badly, the virus can enter the bloodstream and spread to other tissues and organs.
